Norway’s Subsea 7 has announced an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% shareholding in joint ventures Normand Oceanic and Normand Oceanic Chartering, from fellow partner company Solstad Farstad for a nominal price.
Normand Oceanic is the vessel owning entity for offshore construction vessel Normand Oceanic.
.Following the transaction, Subsea 7 will become the sole owner of Normand Oceanic and assume all obligations of the vessel including an outstanding loan of around $100m.
“Our agreement to acquire Normand Oceanic reflects our strategy to own high-specification vessels that differentiate our market leading engineering and construction services to the offshore energy industry. We are focused on actively managing our fleet composition to meet our clients’ requirements and market conditions,” said Jean Cahuzac, CEO of Subsea 7.
According to Solstad Farstad, the company sold the interest in the vessel as it believed its shareholding in the jv was not expected to generate any dividends for the foreseeable future.
The vessel is currently employed under a long term contract for operations in Mexico, and Solstad Farstad will remain ship manager for the vessel at least until end of the contract.
Solstad Farstad said it will book a loss of NOK144m ($18m) from the sale.
